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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Al-Fatihah : Dr Haliza Shafie


I was almost dozing off to sleep out of boredom yesterday afternoon at the ward, when I was snapped out of it by the sheer mention of the name "Dr Haliza Shafie" over TV3 6-something news.

My heart sank. I managed to mumble, " Innalillah hi wa inna ilayhi rojiun ..."

It was only last Monday when Ayah & I passed by her clinic en route to the surau at APSH that I told Ayah we'd better call her nurse to check on Ameer's vaccination schedule. I was quite sure there must be one due for 6 year old. I felt like dropping by her clinic there & then but it was quite late and I didn't want to bother the nurse whom I supposed would already be tired by that hour of the day and would probably be ready to call it a day anytime.

Little that I knew that THAT was my own version of a hazy premonition of some sort. Of course, it might just be a coincidence. But I do get a lot of this kind of coincidences, and I sometimes wonder if I should work harder to sharpen my 6th sense.

The news left my jaw dropped for a long while - shocked, denial, sad - all emotions jumbled up at the same time. I called Ayah but no answer. I had no clue who else to call to share the gruesome news I just overheard from the tube.

When Ayah arrived with the two musketeers later that night, I shared with him the news. He was speechless. We accessed Star online and the news on the "Missing Doctors" was already uploaded.

This morning, when Dr Ashar came for his morning rounds, he asked if I've heard the news. I told him that she was our 3 children's Paed and he nodded in silence. As he removed the IV needle from my hand, he calmly confirmed the news about the discovery of the body and shared some insights into the initial search that had started a few days back in which he was also involved. I had to bite my lips to control my tears.

At this juncture, images of Dr Haliza - in her oh-so-familiar professional yet very calm, caring, feminine, motherly gentle voice & gesture, giving both Ayah & I the much needed advise and assurance that it's okay to learn about caring for babies & toddlers as we go along and not to be too scared about learning it from real life experience - kept flashing in and out of my mind uncontrollably.

Allahyarhammah Dr Haliza was first recommended to me by Dr Jem (my gynae, who's also Dr Ashar's wife) to be my first born Paediatrician way back in 1996 . I've not heard of Dr Haliza before, but how could I refuse a sound recommendation from Dr Jem? Since then, Dr Haliza has been all of our 3 boys' Paed, right from Abang Idin, then to Hafiz, then to Ameer.

She was the one who gave all our 3 boys their vaccinations & inoculation, the jabs, the tickles and also the stern warnings not to consume too much ice cream & lollies. She was the one who attended to Abang Idin when he had pneumonia when he was barely 4 months old. She was the one who attended to Hafiz with all the common baby illnesses as listed in Johnson & Johnson's baby book (from jaundice to cradle cap to pink eye to colic to diarrhea, you name it, Hafiz got it). She also talent spotted Ameer as 'one tough cookie' as he hardly ever cried each time she injected those needles into his cute little butt or arm - so unlike his two elder brothers who cried the whole Ulu Klang river.

I had no doubt before this that if I were fated to have another one, insyaAllah, it would surely still be her to summarise the Apgar scores, to hold and cuddle the little fingers, hands & butt of my newborn in the same loving and caring way that she had done for all my 3 boys.

But of course, we could only plan. We are all still subject to the Master Plan.

To the family of the late Dr Haliza Shafie, our sincere takziah and condolence. May Allah bless her soul. Semuga Allahyarhammah ditempatkan bersama orang-orang yang beriman dan beramal soleh, insyaAllah....

AL-FATIHAH .....


:(
Ibu

p/s To Dr Jem, if by a miracle of chance you do drop by this humble blog entry, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart (long overdue) for introducing Allahyarhammah Dr Haliza to our family. We shall miss her dearly....

30 comments:

MA said...

Salam Ibu,

A sad day for all parents who had dealt with these two wonderful doctors.

Hope you are well now, Ibu.

Take care.

Kak Ezza@makcik Blogger said...

salam Ibu..

banyak bloggers yang menulis pasal this 2 doctors..Takziah pada keluarga mereka..akak tidak mengenali mereka tapi dari cerita kamu dan yang lain tu,akak rasa mereka doktor yang sangat baik. Alfatihah buat mereka.

By he way,you warded ni kerana sakit apa pulak? Semuga sihat dan sembuh sepenuh nya...

IBU said...

MA,

Indeed. As you said in your entry, gone but shall never be forgotten.

I'm okay, resting now. Thanks.

Hugs,
Ibu

IBU said...

Kak Ezza,

Ibu pun x kenal Arwah Dr Amin Tai. Tapi as Arwah Dr Haliza, memang kerap ada doctor's appointment dgn dia since the boys dari baby sampai le ke toddlers. Orangnya undeniably, sungguh lembut dan mesra.

No worries about me. Resting now.

Thanks Kak Ezza.

MrsNordin said...

What a sad day... Al Fatihah to both of them.

Btw, I think your Ameer is sooooooo cute!!! I like his cheeky smile! And that hair do... memang cute giler!

Eti Karim said...

Hi,

Dr Haliza had been my kid's Paed since my fisrt born was born in 2001. She is now 8 and my youngest is 10 months old. Dr Amin Tai cirsumcised both of my boys. What a great loss. Hope you don't mind me posting your blog link in my blog update.

MamaEta said...

Salam Ebu...salam takziah to her family too....

Same here, she was also doc to my no 3 and no4....her gentleness..sweet and charm...Innalillah....

Get well soon ok....

p/s: ..Kita pun tergamam masa tengk berita pepagi semalam..shared dgn my hubby..speechless..and my no3&4 pun a bit sedih..Allah lebih Mengetahui..

zaitgha said...

Ibu,

She was my 3 boys' paed too...so sad kan?....al fatihah

Dad of 4+1 said...

Hope you are better now.

We were actually at APSH on Wed, the day the two docs went missing but Dr Ashar did not mention anything to us, though...

Allayarhamah Dr Haliza relieved Ib's paed once when he was admitted a few years ago and Allahyarham Dr Amin sutured Umar's torn upper lips exactly 2 years ago tomorrow!..Such a great loss!

wanshana said...

Dear Ibu,

I can just imagine how shocked you and Saba were when you heard the news - your kids personal paeds passing on in such way.

Al-Fatihah to both the good doctors. Semoga roh mereka ditempatkan di kalangan yang beriman. Insya Allah.

As for you - bed rest, bed rest, bed rest!

Anonymous said...

Ibu..this is Along..first time making comments in your blog, tho selalu baca.Both Famy & I were still shocked till this day.Just like you, arwah was all my children's paed..and arwah dr amin was my haziq's dr for his minor surgery..both indeed were great drs..dr haliza particularly was involved with the kids growing ups maladies...really really sad for them to pass on in this tragic way..what a loss to the medical fratenity and to APSH particularly.Semoga roh keduanya dirahmati Allah dan dicucuri rahmat..
Anyway, why were you admitted? Hope you are all better now..

lorraine said...

Salam Ibu,

Allahyarhamah was also my eldest daughter's doctor. She is so nice. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh mereka..insyallah!! Allah lebih menyayangi mereka.

Anonymous said...

Salam Ibu,
Allahyarhammah Dr Haliza was the Paed for my eldest and the second child.Just like you, she was introduced to me by Dr Jem, at that time was my eldest's Gynae. She is such a wonderful doctor.I had a shock in my life when my husband read the news on Saturday morning.I couldn't stop thinking of the pain and the suffer that they went. thru.Takziah to their families...gonna miss her so much..

Kmar said...

Salam Ibu...

So sorry to hear about her death. I read the news from the internet and as a pediatrician, I bet arwah had made lots of genuine friends including you. God loves her more..

Takziah to their families..

Anonymous said...

Very, very sad indeed. If you know first hand from Doc Ashar what might have happened please go over to cari.com to help dispell the nasty speculations. These two lovely and kind human being definitely do not deserve some of the slander there.

SpiderJane said...

Salam Ibu....

Hope you're recovering well. You'll be fine in the hands of cool & calm Dr. Ashar.
Am still sad by the tragic death of both doctors but am sure they're in a better place now. Dr. Haliza was the paed for both my kids....8 years now. I wrote about her at my blog too.

*small world , we shared the same paed & the same gynae too :-)

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Salam Ibu,

Arwah Dr. Haliza was my youngest Paed too.

I have heard and read of slenderous stories on the death of these wonderful people. Very sad la, how our masyarakat fikirkan..tak habis-habis nak buruk sangka, ni dah meninggal pun mau speculate lagi..teruk lah.

Al-Fatihah to both the demised.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

Innalillah wainna ilaihroji'un.

Takziah buat keluarga dr Haliza.

kita sama2 berasa sedih, walaupun tak mengenali arwahnya.

IBU said...

MrsN

Sad indeed.

And Ameer said, thank you ... hehehh..cute cam ibu dia la ek?

IBU said...

NKarim,

Agree wth u, a great loss! Allah lebih sayang kan mereka.

NO prob with linking. Would help if you allow me access to your blog too, what say u?

Thanks for dropping by,
Ibu

IBU said...

Eta,

Sob!sob! So u understand & share the feelings right? Sedih....

Thanks for the well wish. Hope to be better soon too.

Hugs,
Ibu

IBU said...

Zai,

Oh dear...sama la kita, 3 boys with the same paed. Sad indeed, masih terasa.

Salam,
Ibu

IBU said...

Dad of 4+1

I've never had the chance to meet Dr Amin, but have heard lots of good words about him and his practice.

God bless both of their souls, insyaAllah....

IBU said...

Shana dear

Words could not described. I knew before hand she's quite active; scuba, hiking, jungke trekking and sorts. Little did I expect to hear the tragic news that way. Nevertheless, only Allah knows best.

We shall cherish memories of her and her gentle touch for all our boys.

Hugs
Ibu

IBU said...

ALong d silent reader,

I guess visits to the paed would never be the same again after this :(

I was admitted, kejap jer..no worries, resting at home now.

Luv
Ibu

IBU said...

Salam lorraine,

A loss for all us moms who had been so fortunate to be given the opportunity to have met & known her via our beloved children.

Thanks for dropping by.

Rgds,
Ibu

salha said...

i pun sedih sgt bile dgr dr haliza dah pergi dgn penyudahan yang begitu tragik..ya Allah..dr haliza seorang yang hebat utk i and family..susah nk describe dah..semoga Allah cucuri rahmat ke atas rohnye..

Lizamurni Lokman said...

Dear Ibu,

This is the first time I'm commenting in your blog and the first time I'm reading your blog too....I came across your blog when I searched for Arwah Dr Haliza via Google.

True enough, she's such a good paed and it's such a great loss for her to die in such a tragic way...

She's the paed to my 3 sons......to tell you the truth, I've never trusted any other paeds (with due respects to the others) other than Arwah....I would always send my sons to see her whenever my sons fell sick. She took care of them all so well.....My hubby and I still couldn't decide which paed to take our sons to in the future coz we were so used to her already....we do miss her terribly...

May her soul rest in peace...Al-Fatihah...

Unknown said...

All my four children are also under her care. My daughter has chicken pox few days before the tragedy. Thought of seeing her, but due to work load, I went to neighbourhood GP only. I wish I went to her clinic instead, to see her for the last time. Such a wonderful person. Great loss to the country. About the bad rumors.. I heard from a group of Datins saying slanderous thing about all this during Majlis Doa Selamat... Hmmmm.. habis pahala.. Al Fatihah.

murti said...

mampir ya.. blogwalking